Is it a forest spirit? Or maybe a monster trying to pass off as human? Appearance-wise, she bore a strong resemblance to Haigha, but they weren’t entirely convinced.
“Mr. Squirrel, wait for—ooph!” She ran right into the trio.
“Hey… Haigha.”
“Hatta?! Alice and Seb too?!”
“It’s okay, Haigha. I’ve already erased all my memories of you talking with squirrels, was it?” Alice reassured.
“I didn’t hear nothing about no ‘birdies’ or their ‘beautiful singing,’ no siree,” Hatta threw in.
“While I would’ve simply loved to see what this ‘love magic’ is all about, I’ll just pretend I didn’t hear that bit,” Seb added for good measure.
“I…I…” Haigha took flight, red as a beet. However, her abysmal stamina allowed Alice to catch up almost immediately.
“Easy there.”
“Let go! Let go of me!”
“What’s gotten into you?”
Have some empathy, will ya, Alice?
A chill ran down Hatta’s spine from secondhand embarrassment.
“Please put me down…I’ll be good,” Haigha pleaded, tears rolling down her cheeks.
“I’ll just assume you’ve already collected the Holy Water. We’ll talk more at the coach.”
They returned to the coach, making sure to box Haigha in so she couldn’t escape along the way.
She just wouldn’t stop crying, which made Alice—yes, the Alice—feel a little uncomfortable, so she ordered Seb to make tea.
“Your tea is delicious, Seb.”
The tea made Haigha feel much better.
“I made sure it was to your liking.”
“It means a lot. Anyway, what’re you all doing here?”
“Did you know that the Demon Lord tried kidnapping me?”
Alice wanted to investigate the amusing previous matter further but chose not to, for fear of the waterworks going off a second time.
“I’ve heard rumors. But it seems they were just that—rumors. You’re right here, after all.”
“Not exactly. He did succeed…in mistakenly kidnapping Jean.”
“He what?! We have to go save Jean.”
“Who cares about Jean?! The fact that he didn’t kidnap me is the real issue.”
Poor Jean. Pity for the prince washed over Haigha.
“What’s the plan?”
“We tear the Demon Lord a new one. Seb here can beat him in a one-on-one.”
“Doesn’t the Demon Lord have bodyguards?”
“I’ve already thought of everything. First, we sneak into his castle and plant bombs in various locations. Then we make them go off all at once. His minions will go investigate, allowing us to break through with ease. Once Seb gets in close, you set off the Boundary Stone, trapping the Demon Lord inside.”
“I see— Why me?!” Haigha’s voice cracked from the sudden realization.
“You’re the only one that can do it.”
“What about Hatta?!”
“The Boundary Stone can only be activated by healing magic. Seb only knows offensive magic; Alice and I can’t use magic at all. That only leaves you.”
“Yes, but…if I set it off, I’ll get trapped inside with them.”
“Crawl into a corner and curl up in a ball. If anything bad happens, Seb’s got you. Don’t you, Seb?”
Seb quietly sipped on his tea.
“I’m not so sure about that, Hatta.”
“You’ll be fine. Here, have this.”
“A ward? It won’t do anything against the Demon—” Haigha noticed the inscription which read: Good Fortune. “How is this going to help me?!”
“Hatta accepted the offer. There’s no turning back now, Haigha,” Alice said with a cold smile.
Out of everyone, it was undoubtedly Haigha that got the short end of the stick. Seb was just doing his job, and Hatta was in it for the money, while she had no reason whatsoever to go along with any of it besides not making matters worse for herself.
“If it helps, the Demon Lord didn’t seem like the type to hit a defenseless girl,” Alice said in the least reassuring manner possible. “Now, onto more pressing matters. Seb, how long is it going to take us to get to the Demon Lord’s castle?”
“It will take us a few days if we head up north through Underland, assuming nothing gets in our way. But I highly doubt it’ll be that simple.”
“I see. Hatta.”
“Yeah?”
“Pull out your flying contraption.”
“What flying contraption?! If I had one, we wouldn’t be sitting here.”
“Unbelievable. Haigha.”
“Yes?”
“Make this coach invisible.”
“No can do.”
“Keep this up, and we’re going to need to have a serious discussion regarding your pay.”
Is she seriously considering docking our pay? Or is she just bluffing to keep us on our toes? Hatta and Haigha went silent, pretending not to hear that last part.
“Oh yeah, I should mention that Holy Water can’t be used immediately,” Haigha warned.
“Completely slipped my mind.” Hatta shrugged.
“Elaborate, Hatta.”
“Haigha has to imbue it with magic and wait about a month. Only then does it count as Holy Water. Otherwise, it’s just regular old water.”
“Can’t wait that long. Any alternatives?”
“Well.” Hatta grimaced. “The White Rabbit lives in a hut east of here. He’s got a pocket watch that can manipulate the flow of time. He…can get on my nerves sometimes, so I’d rather look for other alternatives.”
“Roasted rabbit for dinner it is then.”
“Are you trying to get under my skin?!”
“Rabbit stew’s fine too, jeez.”
“That’s not the issue!”
“There, there, Hatta. Alice is just fooling around. She doesn’t actually want to serve him for dinner. The White Rabbit is a good friend of mine; I’m sure he’ll hear us out. Let’s try and see what happens, okay?”
With the conflict settled, they set off in search of the White Rabbit, a pan and a pot mysteriously appearing right next to Seb.